Mountain bikers are one pedal stroke closer to being able to ride the entire length of the state of Vermont. The Velomont Trail — which, when completed, will stretch from Massachusetts in the south to Canada in the north — has officially opened its first multi-day segment: The Heart of the Greens Loop (HOG).
After covering the Velomont Trail on Singletracks in March, we wanted to learn more about the HOG Loop and what is next for the Velomont.
A Brief Velomont History
The Velomont Trail is a project of epic proportions. When it’s eventually completed, the route will comprise about 485 miles of trail.
“Our VMBA chapters are very community-based organizations that steward their local trail systems. The Velomont is envisioned as that connective tissue that will bring you from one community to another,” said Nick Bennette, Executive Director of the Vermont Mountain Bike Association (VMBA). The Velomont trail will connect nearly all 29 VMBA chapters as it winds its way through Vermont.
The Velomont Trail Collective, which operates as part of VMBA, has also partnered with the Vermont Huts Association. Thirty new huts will be built and scattered along the Velomont Trail, allowing riders to spend the night as they ride it.
Bennette and Angus McCusker, Executive Director of the Velomont Trail Collective, also told us of the challenging task they’ve embarked on with the Velomont project. If building new trails can seem like an arduous task, add in connecting hundreds of miles of trail stretching the entire length of the state. Now, have that trail cross from public land to one private landowner after another.
Despite their uphill battle, the Velomont Trail Collective and its partners continue to plug away at connecting sections of the Velomont and building new trail. This brings us to the milestone they’ve reached — the completion of the HOG Loop.
The Heart of the Greens Loop
The HOG Loop stretches 38 miles through central Vermont. It was announced this spring, and the trails are ready to ride this summer.
While it’s open, that doesn’t mean there isn’t a bit of trail work still happening. “There are a couple of segments that still need to be constructed to avoid a stretch of road as well as a steep doubletrack section,” McCusker told us, “but a majority of the loop is complete, so it’s worth exploring.”
As it currently stands, the HOG Loop is 54% singletrack, 27% gravel/doubletrack, and 19% pavement. The ongoing work McCusker mentioned is to get riders off roads and onto more singletrack. Over the 38 miles, riders should plan for nearly 6,000 feet of ascending, with the highest point on the loop sitting 2,565 feet above sea level. With that much climbing, McCusker informed us that the HOG Loop is intended for intermediate to more advanced riders.
Vermont Huts currently has three huts on this section of trail, but reservations are required to stay in one of them. “Most folks will either complete this loop in two days or even one day,” McCusker told us. “Some have been adding on additional mileage with the Green Mountain Trails or Rochester Valley Trails to make it a longer 2-3 day adventure.”
Huts aren’t the only option for trail users to plan their multi-day adventures. McCusker told us that the loop has several campsites and an inn located in Rochester Village.
If riders aren’t using the huts where they need to plan and make reservations, the HOG Loop becomes a choose-your-own-adventure. The loop can be ridden in either direction, and while Pittsfield and Rochester are common starting points, the HOG doesn’t necessarily “start” at either of these Vermont villages.
With land use agreements being reached for public access to private land, the Velomont Trail Collective and its partners want to ensure trail users respect and follow the rules. This includes where to park, especially for overnight users. Depending on where HOG users are starting their adventure, the Velomont asks them to park in one of six locations:
- Green Mountain National Forest Ranger Station in Rochester
- Rochester Park & Ride
- Pittsfield Park & Ride
- Upper Michigan Road Trailhead
- Chittenden Brook Trailhead
- Bottom of Chittenden Brook Road
In our previous conversation, McCusker told us that over 70% of public-access trails in Vermont are on private land. And while the HOG Loop breaks this trend, McCusker stressed their appreciation of the access to private lands.
“The Heart of the Greens Loop is primarily on public lands with a few sections near Rochester Village that are on private farmlands — North Hollow Farm, Liberty Hill Farm, and Chantrea Farm. The generosity of the private landowners is something that we don’t take for granted,” McCusker said.
For the sections of the HOG Loop on public land, McCusker told us that the planning and permitting took a couple of years but were certainly worth the wait. The HOG Loop includes the Contest Trail, Green Mountain National Forest’s first designated mountain biking trail, which holds a special place in the hearts of Vermont mountain bikers.
Unfortunately, McCusker said that this historic trail has been significantly impacted by recent logging. However, the local VMBA chapter, Ridgeline Outdoor Collective, has been working hard to rehabilitate the Contest Trail and prepare it for the HOG Loop.
More Velomont connections
While the Velomont Trail Collective and VMBA celebrate the first completed multi-day section of the nearly 500-mile trail, they also look to what is next. According to McCusker, they don’t have to go very far from the HOG.
“We’re currently working with the USFS Rochester District to add 28 miles of Velomont Trail that would provide connectivity further south to Killington and Mendon,” McCusker told us. McCusker mentioned this would be a part of the larger Telephone Gap forestry plan in the area. Killington is south of Pittsfield, the HOG Loop’s most southern point, with Mendon being further west of Killington.
Past Killington and Mendon, McCusker told us they are going further south to the border. “We’re also working with the USFS Manchester District to determine where the Velomont Trail will go between Dorset, VT, and the Massachusetts border,” McCusker said.
In our original conversation, both McCusker and Bennette stressed that the Velomont Trail was a multi-year project. While waiting can be challenging, it appears that patience is already paying off.
1 Comments
Aug 2, 2024
New Vermont trail, meet my bucket list.